School May Not Be the Most Important Part of a Child's Education

There is no one way to prepare a child for the real world, but according to authors Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff, they’ve developed the best way. Their new book, Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children($17), introduces a new framework cultivated from the science of learning and development that helps parents focus on practical skills their children will need to succeed later in life.

In an interview with NPR, Hirsh-Pasek criticized current modes of education, likening them to “training kids to do what computers do, which is spit back facts.” With their book, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff, both of whom are professors at Temple University, want to “change the whole definition of what success in school, and out of school, means.”

That’s why they’ve developed what they call “the 21st-century report card,” which is made up of six C’s: collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, confidence, and creative information. And, while those skills have been grouped together before, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff have outlined what they look like at four levels of development.

The authors also want parents to consider how they themselves apply these tools during their everyday experiences. The relationship between parent and child is a two-way street, which means parents need to consider things like how they communicate with their children, what sort of environment have they built for them, and so on. Best of all, this kind of education is totally free.

“Notice we’re talking about buying nothing, signing up for no classes, and no tablets,” adds Hirsh-Pasek. “Not that we’re Luddites, but we’re talking about how the crucible of social interaction between child and parent really helps set up the child for the development of these skills.”